


wherever i roam (you will always be home)

by kiroiimye



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, Christmas Fluff, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Introspection, M/M, Pining, Pining Shirabu Kenjirou, Rivals to Lovers, Slight Timeskip Manga Spoilers, Strangers to Lovers, Under the Mistletoe Zine, coming home, strangers to rivals to friends to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:00:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25042054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiroiimye/pseuds/kiroiimye
Summary: Kenjirou weighs his options, before he decisively shoots a cheeky smile towards the other. “Keep dreaming, Semi-san.”It’s hazy gray-green eyes that match Kenjirou’s bronze ones, and a wide, beautiful grin (and it’s that smile that makes warmth burst in his chest, that makes him feel alive and wanted and not lonely).“Maybe I will.”-[Or: Shirabu Kenjirou finds home in Semi Eita.]
Relationships: Semi Eita/Shirabu Kenjirou
Comments: 12
Kudos: 131





	wherever i roam (you will always be home)

**Author's Note:**

> i almost accidentally tagged this as character death instead of character study lol (thankfully there's none of that in here)

Kenjirou is used to being alone. It’s how he’s lived for the past seventeen years, and probably how he’ll continue to live for the next seventeen. Well, the concept of ‘alone’ is technical; he does live with his parents, in a small, one-story house that he’s supposed to call home, but for Kenjirou, three months into his first year of junior high, the house had never been more than just a house. 

There used to be someone there for him, whether it was his mother humming in the kitchen, or his father in his office. But eventually, the home turns into a living space, and Kenjirou gets used to the loneliness from the moment he steps through the doorway.

After all, Kenjirou has lived seventeen years a lonely life, and he’ll live another seventeen years just the same.

—— 

Kenjirou gets into Shiratorizawa without a hitch—no thanks to his parents. In his final year of junior high, his parents had claimed to be too busy to come to his counseling sessions and he figures they deigned him too insignificant to waste time on. 

He isn’t good enough to earn a sports scholarship, but he’s brilliant enough to get in through academic means, and he shows up to the volleyball tryouts that same week.

“Shirabu Kenjirou. Setter.” 

Coach Washijou peers at him from over his clipboard, hardened gray eyes analyzing him from head to toe, until he nods. “Next.” 

Kenjirou exhales, before he moves to stare down the players. There’s the infamous Ushijima Wakatoshi that Shirabu has heard about, but everyone else is unknown. In general, the team is tall and viciously intimidating and it kickstarts something in Kenjirou’s chest:  _ this _ is everything Kenjirou wants to play for. 

And then, he sees him.

He’s taller than Kenjirou, with dip-dyed, blonde hair. Though he hangs back behind the rest of the team, tucked behind Ushijima, there’s simply something about him that’s annoyingly eye-catching. It’s more than just his strange hair and it's something Kenjirou can’t exactly pin down. Or maybe it’s because the boy is staring back at Kenjirou, with something indescribable in his eyes and Kenjirou finds he doesn’t mind too much. 

He stares back. 

— 

“So, setter huh?” 

It’s the dip-dyed blonde from earlier, and he’s standing at the doorway of the club room, looking down at Kenjirou tying his shoes on the bench. 

Kenjirou finishes a knot. “Yeah. What’s it to you?”

The blonde licks his lips (and Kenjirou’s heart suddenly knots like his laces), before he says, “I’m a second-year setter. Playing first string after Interhighs.”

“Okay.” Kenjirou finishes his other shoe, before he stands up. He’s lip level to the blonde, and though it’s an annoyance that he’s  _ goddamn _ short, he can’t help but wonder what it would feel like to tilt his head up and kiss him (Kenjirou’s not sure how lonely he is to want to kiss a complete stranger, but he doesn’t think he hates the feeling). “What does that have to do with me?” 

The setter tilts his head and a grin curls on his kissable lips. “I’m not going to lose my spot to you,  _ Shirabu-san _ .” 

Kenjirou’s heart flips (he knows Kenjirou’s name), but he merely smirks back. “I look forward to competing with you, Setter-san.” 

“It’s Semi. Semi Eita.”

Semi. Kenjirou rolls the name on his tongue, before he tests it out: “Well then,  _ Semi-san _ . May the best setter win.” 

Semi’s grin grows broader and suddenly, Kenjirou doesn’t feel so lonely anymore (it’s been awhile since someone looked at him with this much affection anyways). 

— 

“So. Next door neighbors?” Semi leans against the doorframe, his eyes glittering as he watches Kenjirou haul his belongings into the dorm room. “Nice to meet ya, neighbor.”

Kenjirou blows his bangs out his face, and shoots a dirty look at Semi. “If you’re not gonna help, get out of the way.”

“Rude.”

“ _ Please _ move or help,” Kenjirou adds, and rolls his eyes.

“Cheeky brat,” Semi says, but he’s grinning nonetheless. He holds his arms out for the box into Kenjirou’s arms. “Pass it over, brat.”

He transfers the box into Semi’s arms and looks him in the eyes when he does so (Semi has striking hazel eyes and the piercing gaze makes Kenjirou’s heart thrum). “Thank you, Semi-san.”

“No Semi-senpai?” Semi jokes, accepting the box.

Kenjirou weighs his options, before he decisively shoots a cheeky smile towards the other. “Keep dreaming, Semi-san.”

It’s hazy gray-green eyes that match Kenjirou’s bronze ones, and a wide, beautiful grin (and it’s that smile that makes warmth burst in his chest, that makes him feel alive and wanted and not lonely). 

“Maybe I will.”

—

“What are you thinking about?” 

Kenjirou’s eyes open and he’s immediately bombarded with the flicker of twinkling lights. He grimaces, fluttering his eyes to kill the brilliance of the room. 

“Oi. Ken-ji- _ rou _ .” Dip-dyed hair enters his vision and he blinks faster, before the fuzzy face burns into view. “Are you listening to me?” 

“Well, there’s not much to listen to,” Kenjirou says, peering up at Semi. “You take like, fifteen minutes to actually get to the point, so if I tune out the beginning ten, I’ll waste less time.”

Semi flicks his forehead, a fond smile playing on his lips as he pulls Kenjirou’s head onto his lap, his calloused hands running through his bangs. “Three years of dating and you’re still a brat.”

“No, just a med student. You learn to tune out the irrelevant.”

Semi rolls his eyes and deliberately musses Kenjirou’s hair. “Anything involving someone’s health is probably relevant, but whatever you say. What were you thinking about though?”

“What makes you think I was thinking about something?” Kenjirou parrots, reaching up for one of Semi’s hands. He pulls it down to his chest and he thinks he sees Semi smile.

“You had your thinking look on your face.”

“I was sleeping.”

A tug at his hair. “Liar.”

Kenjirou grins up at Semi this time, and he’s pleased to see a smile decorating his boyfriend’s face. “You know me too well.”

“I've been dating you for three years and known you twice as long. I really hope I do, or else something's wrong," Semi answers, smile widening. "But honestly, what were you thinking about?" 

Kenjirou merely hums in response, and he turns his gaze away from Semi, considering his thoughts as he surveys the room.

It's packed with Christmas decorations (courtesy of Semi and Tendou), and the amount of decorations is  _ cramping. _ But the room is  _ bright _ and  _ warm _ and as Kenjirou thinks back on his twenty-three years of life, he doesn't think he's felt more at home than here.

"I was thinking about how we first met," he says. “And the way you made me feel and how you made me feel not so lonely anymore. I was thinking about how you became my home."

There's a beat of silence in between them as Semi digests his words. Kenjirou keeps his eyes firmly away from Semi, choosing instead to stare at the shimmering ornaments that hang on the tree in the corner.

"I'm glad to be yours, Kenjirou," Semi says then, oh-so tenderly, and Kenjirou’s heart hurts from the gentle way that Semi speaks. "I'm glad I became your home."

Kenjirou smiles up at Semi, his heart singing, electricity dancing on his skin. "Thank you. For making me feel less lonely. For loving me."

The smile he gets in return is blinding, and in a burst of pure happiness and impulsivity, Kenjirou entwines his fingers with Semi's and he's home.

**Author's Note:**

> me: a semishira stan  
> also me: doesn't write semishira for eighty five years
> 
> thanks to Under the Mistletoe zine for accepting me and giving me the opportunity to write these soft boys <33 i love them so much aaAA
> 
> \--
> 
> song inspo: [You Are My Home](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es3UCY4tcQY)  
> \+ yeah it's that one Alvin and Chipmunks song sue me (BUT THE SLOWED DOWN VERSION WITH NORMAL PITCH IS GOOD)
> 
> \--
> 
> catch me at [Twitter](https://twitter.com/kiroiimye) & [Tumblr](https://kiroiimye.tumblr.com/) !! :D


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